I was also wondering, what is the passive voice rule? Is it optional? I'm curious because, my grammar check doesn’t actually correct the error it just constantly keeps trying to fix it in a continuous loop._________________"words are the window to the imagination."

Interesting. I was always taught the second way (e.g. James') and that "s's" is never acceptable.

Oh and the Firefox spellchecker isn't quite up to par. Had to add several words to the dictionary myself, so I wouldn't depend on what it says!_________________- Kendo Virmir
Virmir's StoriesMetamor Keep

As I am a younger author, I will defer to the wiser experts in this matter. However, it does seem to me that the singular noun that ends in 's' should still use an apostrophe followed by an additional 's', even if the extra syllable is not pronounced.

I'm probably mistaken, here. But it also looks like there isn't a definitive answer on the subject.

I was taught in such a circumstance to always add an es on the end if something ended in s. but thsi wasw back when i was a 5 year old army brat who had to liive in germany for 3 years because his father jsut so happened ot be stationed there. _________________Asalis: (uh*sah*lis)

I've heard a) you add only the appostrophy if the word ends in "es" and add appostropy and s in all other occasions. and I've heard b) Authors know the rules of writting, it's their job to know what is right and wrong, authors also spend much of their first writings worrying about the rules so that by the time they've written a couple books and start getting famous they are sick of worrying about the far too numerous rules and will write whatever they want, however they want and we as the reader will accept it and enjoy it.... So... _________________http://www.bukisa.com/people/AmberBarnes check it out!
http://twitter.com/PrincessBTigres
Girls are like phones. We love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected!

An interesting distinction is 'consistent' as opposed to 'correct'. English-speaking countries each have their own established norms: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the list, for some time, goes on. Even within countries there are different schools of thought.

Striving to be correct by figuring out, for each situation, what the optimum solution is, is tedious. Therefore, a piece of advice I'd like to lay before my esteemed fellow board-members is this: pick a source and stick with it.

Pick one (reputable!) book or source on rules of grammar, spelling, syntax and punctuation and rely on it for all your needs. Study it concisely, of course, and refresh yourself regularly. I'm a fan of Strunk & White, myself. The Elements of Style is a neat and diminutive little volume that's easily stuffed in a pocket for reading on the bus.

The upshot is that if you're criticized for a particular line in your text, you can allay those criticisms by citing the rule as stated by your source. If your source doesn't actually cover a particular rule (as is the case with the very short Strunk & White), well, you can still claim some measure of confidence by stating that your favored source was unclear, and you just made the best of it.

Anyone up for recommending some source books, with their pros and cons?_________________Head pot-scrubber of Bad Dog Books

I am by no means an authoritative source, but I like the response Mike got involving pronunciation.

Writing text is merely a way to convey and record words... which should primarily be spoken. As such I view text not as a language unto itself, but as a visual form of symbols representing something you would speak out loud. Punctuation is intended as a visual guideline for the reader to understand how something should sound... and posessive-tense would follow along that as well. Thus, if you would say "Jame-zes" insteads of "James" when referring to something James owns, then "James's" would sound appropriate, whereas "James' " would be appropriate for the latter.

That all said, I also agree with the concepts of communication. If you speak, and your audience understands, you've succeeded. Doing it "right" should only be a concern if the right way will make you more successful in your efforts to communicate. If by writing something in the "wrong" way gets your point across to your satisfaction (hopefully with minimal confusion as a personal standard), then it was the right way to write it.

When there are many different sources, all that matters is that you're consistent! You can write James' or James's, depending on which source you follow (and very few Americans will fault you for following Strunk & White), but if you write "Chris' and James's car" you're not going to get any respect

PS: 'you' is used in the abstract here and does not refer to any raccoon in particular! _________________Head pot-scrubber of Bad Dog Books

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